The Humiliation of Kristi Noem

"When a conspicuous presidential project goes awry-in this case, federal immigration agents killing two protesters in Minnesota-someone typically loses their job. And for much of this week, Kristi Noem's deportation from the Trump administration seemed imminent. Public confidence in the president's handling of immigration has been plummeting. And as the secretary of Homeland Security-and the ostentatious face of President Trump's high-profile ICE and Customs and Border Protection dragnets-Noem has seemed the logical sacrifice."

"But in what can perhaps be called a minor upset, Noem was still in her role by week's end. Instead, she had been left to twist very publicly in the wind. In a sense, this marks a subtle shift in Trump's humiliation methods. Rather than firing officials outright-in a quick and relatively straightforward directive, or a tweet-he now seems to prefer sowing public doubt and maximizing attention upon the ultimate decider of someone's fate: that person, of course, being himself."

A high-profile immigration operation culminated with federal agents killing two protesters in Minnesota, producing public outcry and falling confidence in presidential immigration leadership. As the ostentatious face of ICE and CBP enforcement, the Homeland Security secretary appeared vulnerable to dismissal. Washington expected a public firing, replicating a pattern of rapid Cabinet turnover from earlier in the presidency. Instead, the secretary remained in place while public uncertainty about her fate persisted. The president shifted tactics toward prolonging personnel ambiguity, deriving influence from the spectacle and avoiding the immediate obligation to identify and install replacements.

Read at The Atlantic